The evening air felt strangely warm when they left the library.
The sky above the school had begun turning orange, sunlight spilling across the old corridors and concrete stairways.
For everyone else, it was just the end of another school day.
For Jian, it felt like surviving something.
His heartbeat had only just returned to normal.
Unfortunately, Kai existed.
"Okay."
Kai pointed dramatically while walking backward down the corridor.
"Something happened in there."
"Nothing happened," Rui replied immediately.
"You weren't even there."
"I know you."
"That's unfair."
"It really isn't."
Dev laughed quietly beside them.
Chen simply continued walking.
Kai looked toward Jian.
Then toward Wei.
Then back again.
Suspicious.
Extremely suspicious.
"Both of you look weird."
Jian nearly stumbled.
"We don't."
"You do."
"We don't."
"You do."
Rui smacked the back of Kai's head.
"Keep walking."
Kai clutched his shoulder dramatically.
"Violence."
"You deserve it."
The group continued down the stairs together.
Their footsteps echoed softly through the nearly empty building.
Most students had already left.
Classrooms stood open and quiet.
The school felt strangely larger now.
Like it had already started forgetting them.
Jian kept his eyes firmly forward.
Absolutely not looking at Wei.
Not after the library.
Not after realizing exactly how close he'd been.
The memory returned instantly.
The sunlight.
The silence.
Wei's voice.
"What are you trying to do?"
Jian wanted to disappear.
Beside him, Wei seemed perfectly normal.
Which somehow made everything worse.
Eventually they reached the first floor.
The old school entrance stood ahead, bathed in gold evening light.
Students gathered near the gates.
Some said goodbye.
Some discussed study schedules.
Some exchanged phone numbers.
Everyone seemed busy making plans for the weeks ahead.
Because starting tomorrow—
there would be no school.
No attendance.
No classroom.
No routine.
Study leave had officially begun.
The realization settled quietly over the group as they stepped outside.
For a moment, nobody spoke.
Then Kai groaned.
Loudly.
"Don't remind me... exams are waiting."
Rui immediately pointed toward the sky.
"Too late."
"I wasn't talking to you."
"You never are. Yet somehow I still suffer."
Dev laughed.
The sound carried softly through the humid evening air.
Scooters buzzed past the road beyond the gate.
Somewhere nearby, a street vendor was setting up for dinner.
The familiar rhythm of the town continued around them.
Yet everything felt slightly different.
A little more temporary.
Rui adjusted his bag strap.
"Study holiday means sleeping holiday for me."
Kai looked genuinely offended.
"Some of us have academic responsibilities."
"You barely have academic survival."
"That's still something."
"It really isn't."
Even Wei smiled faintly.
The sight caught Jian's attention immediately.
Dangerous.
He looked away before he got caught staring again.
Across the sidewalk, Chen quietly took a stack of papers from Kai.
"You forgot these."
Kai looked down.
"...Again?"
Chen sighed.
"You won't pass if you lose half your notes."
"I wasn't losing them."
"You left them on a bench."
"Temporarily."
Chen reorganized the papers neatly and handed them back.
"You'll survive if you stop complaining."
Kai stared.
Then grinned.
"You sound like my mother."
"No."
"You do."
"No."
"You really do."
Rui nearly laughed himself into traffic.
The conversation continued naturally after that.
Familiar.
Comfortable.
The kind of routine they had built without noticing.
Yet as they stood there near the school gate, Jian suddenly realized something.
Tomorrow none of this existed.
Not automatically.
No classroom waiting.
No shared desks.
No afternoon study sessions.
No guarantee he would see Wei.
The thought settled heavily inside his chest.
For months, seeing Wei had become easy.
Natural.
He only needed to walk into school.
Now that certainty was gone.
The realization followed him while the group slowly began discussing their plans.
Dev planned to spend most mornings studying at the public library.
Rui claimed he would wake up at noon every day.
Nobody believed him.
Kai immediately began panicking about exam schedules.
Chen continued fixing mistakes before they happened.
The usual.
Except Jian noticed something.
Wei wasn't making plans.
Wasn't arranging study groups.
Wasn't discussing schedules.
He stood slightly apart from the conversation, adjusting the books in his arms.
Quiet.
Prepared.
Like someone planning to disappear home and study alone.
The sight bothered Jian unexpectedly.
Maybe because he suddenly imagined days passing without seeing him.
The thought felt wrong.
The group eventually reached the road where they normally separated.
Different directions.
Different neighborhoods.
Different homes.
This was usually where they said goodbye.
Today felt different.
More final.
Kai pointed dramatically at everyone.
"Don't fail."
"We're not the ones worried," Rui replied.
"That was unnecessary."
"It was accurate."
Dev shook his head.
Chen looked exhausted already.
One by one, plans were made.
Promises exchanged.
Study hard.
Call if you need notes.
Don't disappear.
See you after exams.
Normal things.
Yet every goodbye seemed to carry more weight than usual.
Then Jian noticed Wei shifting his books higher against his chest.
Preparing to leave.
Preparing to vanish into his own routine.
Something inside Jian reacted immediately.
Before he could overthink it—
"You're going home?"
Wei looked over.
A little surprised.
"Yeah."
"To study?"
A small nod.
"Probably."
Simple.
Straightforward.
The answer shouldn't have bothered him.
Yet it did.
Jian looked away briefly.
Then back.
"Come study at my place instead."
The words slipped out naturally.
As if they had already been decided.
Silence followed.
Not complete silence.
The street remained busy around them.
Scooters passed.
People talked.
The town continued moving.
Yet between them—
silence.
Wei froze.
Only slightly.
But Jian noticed.
Of course he noticed.
For a moment, Wei simply stared at him.
Something unreadable passed through his eyes.
Not surprise alone.
Something older.
A hesitation that seemed to come from somewhere far beyond today.
Jian suddenly remembered.
The families.
The arguments.
The years of distance.
His mother.
Wei's parents.
Things neither of them ever discussed.
The invitation wasn't simple.
Not really.
The realization came too late.
Wei lowered his gaze briefly.
The evening sunlight painted gold across the edges of the books in his arms.
Jian almost took the invitation back.
Then—
"...Alright."
The answer was quiet.
Soft.
Almost cautious.
But real.
Jian blinked.
For a second he wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.
Wei looked up again.
A faint smile appeared.
Small.
Careful.
"I'll come."
Something warm spread through Jian's chest before he could stop it.
Ridiculous.
Embarrassing.
Yet impossible to ignore.
Wei had agreed.
Across the street, Kai immediately shouted.
"Wait."
Everyone turned.
Kai pointed dramatically between them.
"What did I miss?"
Rui groaned.
"Nothing."
"You definitely missed something," Dev said.
Chen started walking away before Kai could investigate further.
The argument resumed instantly.
Normal.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
Yet Jian barely heard any of it.
Because one thought kept repeating quietly inside his mind.
Tomorrow there would be no classroom.
No routine.
No reason to see each other.
And yet—
Wei was still coming.
For the first time since study leave began, the future felt a little less empty.